Part 2, Ole Miss 27, Auburn 19: News, Notes & Quotes

News and notes and quotes are featured from Jordan-Hare Stadium where the Tigers dropped an SEC West football showdown vs. Ole Miss.

Ricardo Louis makes a touchdown catch vs. the Rebels.

Auburn, Ala.--Ricardo Louis has seen highs in lows in his Auburn career that spans ranges from a national championship game appearance with the 2013 team to the struggles of this season that have the Tigers at 4-4 after a 27-19 Saturday loss to Ole Miss at home.

Louis was on the receiving end of redshirt freshman Sean White’s first touchdown pass, a 47-yarder that gave Auburn an early 10-3 lead over the Rebels. However, the Tigers managed only three field goals in three red zone visits the rest of the game.

Louis recorded caught four passes for 137 yards, giving him a reception in 24 consecutive games dating back to the 2013 Georgia game. It was his third career 100-yard receiving game and third straight game with 75 or more yards receiving. He has nine career touchdowns, including three this season--two through the air and one rushing.

The veteran receiver said the Tigers gave their best, noting it was a game that saw several teammates playing through injuries.

“We had some injuries, you know Sean (QB White) with his knee, some injuries on the line, some injuries on the defense as well, so you know that’ll slow you down a little bit,” he pointed out.

Louis didn’t mention that leading rusher Peyton Barber was also limited against Ole Miss, but did comment on the effort of White at quarterback.

“I appreciate him fighting because I knew he was hurt,” Louis said. “All throughout practice he struggled. He came out today and really stood up for us and put us in position to win. We just couldn’t finish.”

Louis said a poor day on converting third downs really hurt the offense as the Tigers were able to make only 2-of-15 third-down conversions.

“That’s the main thing with our offense, once we get a big play, get that rhythm going, we can’t be stopped,” Louis explained. “Once we stop ourselves by getting off the field on third down, we are not going to be able to run our offense like we want to. We just have to keep fighting and work on getting better.”

In other news and notes:

*Captains for the Ole Miss game were defensive end Carl Lawson, wide receiver/quarterback Jonathan Wallace and placekicker Daniel Carlson. Auburn won the toss and elected to receive.

*Lawson was the announced starter at defensive end, seeing his first action since the first half of Auburn’s opener with Louisville when he injured a hip. He played the several consecutive plays on Ole Miss’ opening field goal drive before taking a breather and then returning for most of the first half with numerous appearances in the second half. Although he was credited with only one assisted tackle, he had a team high three quarterback hurries in his first start at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

*Junior Jovon Robinson, who had not appeared in the previous four games, lined up as the running back on Auburn’s first offense play before being substituted for. Robinson had three carries for eight yards in the first half before cranking it up in the third quarter when he rushed nine times for 64 yards. He demonstrated the ability to pick up yards after contact and finished with a game-high 91 yards on 18 carries with Auburn’s leading rusher Peyton Barber rushing only eight times for 17 yards after missing practice most of the week.

*Offense was lacking in the opening quarter. After Ole Miss moved 72 yards on 12 plays on its first drive that resulted in a field goal, Auburn held the Rebels to consecutive three-and-outs. Ole Miss ended the first quarter with 70 yards total offense to only 45 for Auburn. The Tigers finished the first half with 158 yards to 230 for Ole Miss. Both teams bounced back from slow starts with Auburn going on to pick up 427 yards while the Rebels gained 558 yards on 91 total plays to 73 for Auburn.

*Prior to Saturday’s game Auburn owned advantage in the series with Ole Miss that included five straight wins in Auburn and wins in five of the last six meetings between the two SEC West Division opponents. The Tigers now own a 14-3 margin in games played at Auburn and have won 10 of 13 games played in Oxford.

*Saturday’s contest was the 13th straight sellout at Jordan-Hare Stadium, a record since the stadium was expanded to its current capacity in 2004. The Tigers have now played in 23 straight sellout games home and away.